Macrame

29 March 2017

I have been meaning to tell this little crafty story for some time.... its how another little passion crept into my life.. and sort of stuck there....


It began when Briony mentioned how much she would love a macrame backdrop for her wedding. We began looking at images online... and I immediately knew... I wanted to make her one ...and I could make her one.
Heck.... I recall making many a hanging plant hanger....or hooty beaded eyes owl back in the day....Mum was a macrame lover from way back....and I joined in the fun.
I am sad now though.... that all of the book...patterns and supplies Mum had were tossed during a clean-out ... who would have ever thought I'd one day be looking for them.

Seriously.... macrame is not hard....its just knots... lots of them.
There are a plethora of ridiculously talented macrame artists online.... especially on Instagram... type in macrame and prepare to drift into 'macrame heaven' what some of those girls can do with rope / cord / string just blows me away.

On a scale ...I am at the 'simple and repetitive' end...and thats ok.... when you work on a huge scale it has plenty of impact...

There was no pattern...other than some rough calculations on paper regarding the width and the amount of rope I would need. I was terrified of cutting my ropes too short...and not having enough length to complete the design.
Luckily there were some great suggestions online as to how to calculate this....and I did the equation over and over....and over and over.....just to make sure I didn't stuff up.

I began with it on the clothes rack..... and as it progressed I used the curtain rod in the family room...it became like standard addition to the space.... we missed it when it was gone.



The day finally arrived and it fitted the arbor well.... the length I had agonised over was perfect.... my only self complaint was it could have been a little wider.... I hadn't allowed for the way it naturally shrinks in at the edges... I made a 'note to self' on that one.
I was truly honoured to have made this for my beautiful girl....and from the many comments and compliments it drew on the day I felt like I did an OK job.

The string I used was sourced from String Harvest... it took just over 3kg of string... so I purchased two of the 5.5mm Extra Thick twisted cotton string 2kg ...it was so soft to work with. I did wonder if I would have been better using a rope...rather than string.. both have a unique look... but I have decided not to over think that....it looks beautiful as is. Soft...heavy...and beautiful.


4 comments

  1. It's just beautiful Marnie. Perfect back drop. I used to do macrame and loved it. It is making a come back.

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    1. It really is....its so popular right now...and I cant see it going out of fashion anytime soon either... perhaps you too will have a renewed interest..(wink) x

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  2. You did an amazing job! It looked stunning and not only have you told a truly lovely story here, you have gifted your girl a story to tell too. Your macrame is part of the wedding forever now.

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  3. Oh Mardi. It's beautiful and I have been admiring your revisited love of macrame in your instagram posts. I went through my own macrame stage of making pot plant holders back in the day. The wedding back drop you made is stunning!

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